ISSN

ISSN

An ISSN barcode is an EAN-13 with prefix 977 used to identify periodicals.

Also known as: International Standard Serial Number.

Standards: ISO 3297, ISO/IEC 15420, BS EN 797, GS1 General Specifications.

Data and Options

• The data should contain the seven or eight digits ISSN separated by a dash characters -, followed by a two-digit sequence variant, optionally followed by two or five digits if a two-digit add-on or five-digit add-on is required.
  • A two-digit add on is typically used to represent the issue number.
  • A five-digit add on is not typically used with ISSN.
• If the last digit of the ISSN data is not given then the ISSN check digit is calculated automatically, otherwise it will be verified.
• The includetext option should normally be supplied.
• The guardwhitespace option enables the display of whitespace guard marks.
• The following options are also relevant to this barcode symbology:
  • issntextfont: PostScript font name for text above symbol
  • issntextsize: Font size for the text above symbol, in points
  • issntextxoffset: Horizontal position of ISSN text, in points
  • issntextyoffset: Vertical position of ISSN text, in points

A sequence variant is a two-digit number that usually starts at zero and is incremented whenever the recommended retail price is amended, where applicable.

Example

Identical symbols, input provided with and without an ISSN check digit and having sequence number 00:

Data:    0317-8471 00
Options: includetext guardwhitespace
Encoder: issn

Data:    0317-847 00
Options: includetext guardwhitespace
Encoder: issn

An ISSN with sequence number 03 and a two-digit add-on representing issue number 17:

Data:    0317-8471 03 17
Options: includetext guardwhitespace
Encoder: issn

Data:    0317-847 03 17
Options: includetext guardwhitespace
Encoder: issn